Tale of Genji

Part 4.
Discuss the character and fate of Genji in the Japanese novel “The Tale of Genji”

The Tale of Genji can be considered as one of the oldest novels; some people even call it the world’s first novel. It was written during the early 11th century. The author, Murasaki Shikubu, can be compared to Homer, Dante, and Goethe. The masterpiece has influenced both the Western and Eastern Canon. It contains topics which are found in modern novels: romance, travel, and a perfect hero. The novel consists of a major character, Genji, the eponymous hero of the tale, and a lot of minor characters, who are very well developed. Genji, the protagonist of the story is the emperor’s son. There is an argument about whether his character is real or not. There are several real life people considered close to him: Ariwara no Narihira (the hero of The Tales of Ise), Emperor Murakami and Sugawara no Michizane. It is not clear whether his character is really inspired by one of those people, but it is certain that he cannot be a simply imaginary fictional character. The novel follows his maturation, his world exploration and political views. Genji goes through a drastic change in his life, when he receives a commoner’s status and the name of “Minamoto.” But he manages to rise in rank and become an Honorary Retired Emperor and also sees his children advancing in the hierarchy. In his mature life he succeeds in his career, which is best represented by his huge mansion, built to mirror the Emperor’s Palace. It is the highest point of his glory; it is also the point when his fortunes starts to decline. He becomes vulnerable to the new generations. His life starts to fade when in the final chapters his favorite Murasaki dies and soon after he follows his beloved woman to heaven, other known in the Buddhism as Nirvana. One of the genres of this novel is romance. It follows Genji’s love life which is really...

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...Manpreet Singh
10/10/2010
Literature of Japan
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The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu deals heavily with Japanese religions and its influence on Japanese society. Themes of jealousy, responsibility and guilt are also mixed in with the religious themes. Religions and ideals clash through the course of the novel. Shikibu focused on the two religions of Buddhism and Shinto. Buddhism represents the modern day religion in the novel and Shinto is viewed as the old religion. As the novel progress the readers start to see the fusion of the two religions. Throughout the novel several people such as women and priests live their lives according to the religion they choose to follow. This work of Japanese literature also includes demons and spirits that possess the bodies of people living to perform harmful deeds. Religion and supernatural spirits play a significant role in The Tale of Genji.
The Tale of Genji takes place during the Heian period in Japanese history. The story centers around privileged upper-class citizens. Most of their time is used for leisure and their whole world is revolves around the emperor. Most of the aristocrats were infatuated with social rank and reproducing, however their society did show appreciation for the elegance and beauty of nature. They also enjoyed simple pleasures such as poetry, music and calligraphy. Appearance was very important as-well...

...The Tale of Genji
The Tale of Genji is a classic novel from Japanese literature that revolves around men’s obsession of women. The novel is sometimes hard to follow due to the fact people from the Heian Period in Japan (c. 794-c. 1185) thought it was rude to name people; therefore people are referred to by their rank, color of clothing or place they came from instead of their name. People’s names can change throughout the novel due to a change in political status or change in address. (New World Encyclopedia 2008). Throughout The Tale of Genji, the men and women suffer horribly for their obsessions by suffering from anxiety, being unable to control their own actions, and by making bad decisions.
The main character of the tale is a man referred to as Genji who puts himself in uncomfortable situations due to his obsession with certain women. There are several other characters throughout the novel who also suffer from their obsessions. The definition of obsession is a compulsive preoccupation with a fixed idea or an unwanted feeling or emotion, often accompanied by symptoms of anxiety (TheFreedictionary.com 2011). Another definition is the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc. (Dictionary.com 2011).
The male characters of this novel most definitely experience anxiety because of the agony and longing that was caused...

...Wendell Fleming
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The great theme of The Tale of Genji is the success or failure to regain one's birthright. Chapters 1-33 are a success story in which a main male hero, Prince Genji, becomes an Emperor emeritus and thus regains his birthright as the son of an Emperor. Chapters 34-41 chronicle the breakdown of the success story of the previous chapters by addressing the potentiality of failure in Prince Genji's marriages, and in his relationships with his children, other women, and some other men. The final Chapters 44-54 are a story of failure to live up to one's birthright. The style of writing practiced by the sole author of The Tale of Genji , Lady Murasaki Shikibu, is one of increasing degrees of irony, that is, from straight narration of events in chronological time, termed diachronic progression in Chapters 1-33, to more complex stages of narration termed synchronic progression in which the importance of events in time gives way to a world of thoughts and emotions known only in part by characters, narrators, and readers, and not necessarily to all those who live in the text. In Chapters 34-41, the reader begins to know more about the characters and their relationships than they do individually. The potentiality of failure as a theme is well-supported by a writing style in which characters and events are not always as they seem to be,...

...characters seek comfort for lost from women of similar physical traits. In The Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu convey the idea of evanescence of important relationships through Genji’s life.
Genji’s mother Kiritsubo, who is the Emperor's true love, died when Genji was only three years old. Genji had very little time with his birth mother; this foreshadows Genji’s whole life as he matures of how he continuously suffers from losing the women he cares about. When Kiritsubo passed away the Emperor was filled with unending sorrow, he “had clung all too foundly to his old love, despite universal disapproval, and he did not forget her now, but in a touching way his affection turned to [Fujitsubo], who was a great consolation to him” (Murasaki14). The Emperor seeks a substitute for his wife while Genji seeks a mother. The Emperor's grief over Kiritsubo is eased when he meets Fujitsubo because she almost exactly resembles Kiritsubo. Although Genji does not remember his mother much, when the Dame of Staff told him that Fujitsubo resembled his mother, Genji “wanted always to be with her so as to contemplate her to his heart’s content” (Murasaki14). In order to find comfort, both Genji and his father seek substitution after losing the women they love.
Genji’s relationship with Fujitsubo was short lived. Fujitsubo was a mother replacement when Genji was young,...

...14 Feb 2012
A Contemporary Critique on Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji
The Heian court and the social structure it provided is a compelling aspect of Japanese history. The 21st century reader is intrigued by such an era and its artistic representations because the general norms, collective conscious, and interpersonal relationships seem to be in clear contrast with the social practices of today. At face value, it appears that Murasaki Shikibu’s discontentment with the aforementioned characteristics of court life manifested itself within the pages of The Tale of Genji. The acclaimed Russian novelist Vladimir Nabokov once stated, “A masterpiece of fiction is an original world and as such is not likely to fit the world of the reader.” Thus, although Murasaki Shikibu’s work is deeply rooted in exposing the pretense associated with Heian court social rank, marriage practices, and feminine submissiveness, she managed to create a world for Genji which tested the limits of his emotional threshold and, by default, relatable with modern/epic protagonists. Moreover, because the modern audience can at times feel sympathetic toward Genji by relating to his emotional range (i.e grief through ecstasy) and psychological abnormalities, The Tale of Genji’s status as a timeless masterpiece is merited. Had Genji been a detached lover with no emotional and...

...Genji and the Imperial society
Knowledge of a society's family system is essential to understanding that society. In the case of Japan, it is especially important because the family rather than the individual is considered to be the basic unit of society. Furthermore, the family plays an important role in determining individual life direction. Hikaru Genji, the son of the emperor from the classic work of japanese literature, “Tale of Genji” has a major role in this family. Being the second son of the emperor, Genji is thrusted into these imperial ways which evidently causes Genji’s path to turn in many unexpected directions.
Unlike American society, less concerned with social class and power when determining social relationships, Japanese society demonstrated in Murasaki Shikibu’s Tale of Genji describes social relationships much more determined by class as well as power. The first chapter in Murasaki Shikibu’s book demonstrates this importance of social stature dealing with relationships. During an undetermined time in Japanese history an emperor who is unnamed falls in love with a strikingly beautiful lady named Kiritsubo. Despite the fact that this lady is of higher rank, she is not fully highborn and must remain a secret for the emperor. As their relationship continues to progress the imperial court eventually finds out about the emperor’s new favorite lady...

...A Summary and Response to "the Aesthetics of Power: Politics in The Tale of Genji" by Haruo Shirane
In his article, Shirane suggests that many people and themes in the Genji book are based on or inspired by historical or literary figures and notions. However, it is also noted that Murasaki Shikibu incorporated her own aspirations into her masterpiece. Shirane compares the characters in the book with historical figures, illustrating how the people in history get embodied into their fictional counterparts. He first shows that Kiritsubo Emperor is the alternative version of the historical Daigo Emperor, by indicating that the two have the same father (Shirane, p. 621), and the reign of Kiritsubo is similar to that of Daigo (Shirane, p. 622). In addition, Genji in the book is based on a real Genji named Minamoto no Takaakira, son of the Daigo Emperor (Shirane, p. 624). Takaakira was then the Minister of the Left and married his daughter to a likely candidate for crown prince, but later he was pushed into an exile (Shirane, p. 625 & 635). Fujitsubo in the book also echoes an important historical figure, the Empress Dowager Senshi, because both of the two had renounced the secular world but were still possessing the highest political power as the mother of the reigning emperor (Shirane, p. 638 & 639).
Not only could people be traced back to historical figures, themes in the book also have their basis out...

...Heather Kilpatrick
February 5, 2013
History of Eastern Civ.
The Tale of Genji
The book I chose for this paper was the Tale of Genji, by Lady Murasaki Shikibu. This story was written nearly 1,000 years ago. It is considered to be ione of the world's earliest novels. It was written during the Heian era of classical Japan. It was written during the Heian era of classical Japan. It was mainly based in Heian-kyo, wich is now modern day Kyoto..
Genji was the son of the emporer and his favorite concubine, Kiritsubo. A korean sage comes to Japan and Genji goes to meet with him in disguise. He ends up predicting a brilliant for future for the young Genji, saying that his stars show him possibly being te great leader of a nation.. Not too long after this though his mother Kiritsubo, who had suffered for a long time from the jealousy of the various court ladies jealousy finally became very ill, and then soon died. Since Genji had no political backing at court at this time his father, the emperor, was forced to make him a commoner declaring him part of the non royal Genji clan. After the death of his mother, young Genji is sent away for a while. He grows to be a very handsome and brilliant young man. The story follows him back to court where he goes through all the ceremony of becoming a man where he has his hair ceremonially has his...